HUD Benefits Moving To Turboprops, Light Jets

Rockwell Collins announced the new smaller and lighter compact HGS-3500 head-up guidance system today at the FSF/NBAA Corporate Aviation Safety Seminar in San Diego. At roughly one-fifth the installed cost of a typical long-range jet’s head-up display (HUD), the HGS-3500 promises to bring the safety benefits of HUD technology to the segment spanning single-engine turboprops to midsize jets. The HGS-3500, for use in aircraft equipped with the Rockwell Collins Pro Line Fusion avionics suite, fits into one 12-pound unit that mounts in front of the pilot. It consists of an LED-lighted active-matrix LCD that feeds the image into the top of the HUD glass, which then spreads the image out so it fills the entire space. The HGS-3500 offers a slightly smaller field of view, lower luminance and lower resolution than the larger Rockwell Collins HGS head-up guidance system, but the result for the pilot is functionally the same, according to Adam Evanschwartz, principal marketing manager at Rockwell Collins. All the symbols on the HGS-3500 will look the same to pilots in terms of size, resolution and placement as they do on the original Collins HGS. The HGS-3500 will display the Fusion’s synthetic-vision system view, as well as infrared enhanced vision. Rockwell Collins plans to fly the HGS-3500 on its Challenger 601 in 2013, and expects to receive certification in 2014 or 2015. The company hopes to gain FAA approval for lower approach minimums using synthetic vision on the HGS.